Mona Scobie Røkke (3 March 1940 – 13 July 2013) was a Norwegian and politician for the Conservative Party. She was the Minister of Justice from 1981 to 1985.

Early life and career

She was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konner ...

as a daughter of Randal William Scobie (1904–1979) and Aslaug Høyendahl (1908–1997), both office managers. She finished her secondary education in 1958, and graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...

with the cand.jur. degree in 1963. After seven years as a businesswoman in Drammen and

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, she was a police superintendent in Drammen from 1971 to 1977. The years 1973 and 1976 were exceptions; she served one year as deputy judge in Kongsberg District Court and one year as a lawyer in Drammen.

Political career

Røkke started her political career in Drammen city council from 1971 to 1979. She chaired Drammen Conservative Women's League from 1974 to 1975, later the county league from 1976 to 1979 and the Conservative Women's League of Norway from 1979 to 1985. From 1976 to 1985 she was also a central board member of the Conservative Party. She ended her partisan tenure as chair of Drammen Conservative Party from 1988 to 1990. She was also deputy chair of the European Movement in Norway from 1986 to 1988. She was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from Buskerud in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

, and was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Justice. From 1981 through 1985 she was a member of

Willoch's First Cabinet Willoch's First Cabinet was a minority, Conservative Government of Norway. It succeeded Brundtland's First Cabinet (which was a Labour government), after the Conservative victory in the 1981 Storting election; and sat from 14 October 1981 to ...

as Minister of Justice. Her seat in Parliament was in turn filled by Øivin Skappel Fjeldstad, Hallgrim Berg and Odd Kallerud. She then returned to Parliament for her second real term, serving in the

Standing Committee on Defence Standing Committee on Defence (SCOF) is usually a parliamentary committee of parliaments of nations following a parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or ...

and Standing Committee on Social Affairs until 1989. From 1987 she was also a delegate to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

. In October 1987 she was named as the County Governor of Vestfold, a position she assumed in 1989 after her parliamentary career. She served until her professional retirement in 2010. In March 2010 her successor as County Governor was announced as Erling Lae. She chaired the corporate council of

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norway, Norwegian majority State-owned enterprise, state-owned multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the List of mobile network ...

(1994–2005), was deputy chair of the

Norwegian State Agriculture Bank Norwegian State Agriculture Bank ( no, Statens Landbruksbank) is a defunct Norwegian government bank that lent money to investments within agriculture with mortgage in real estate. It was created on 5 February 1965 as a merger between Norges Hyp ...

and ''Landbrukets utviklingsfond'' (1994–1999). She also held a wide array of cultural posts, as deputy chair of the Norwegian Cancer Society (1988–1993) and the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (1989–1997), deputy member of the

Norwegian Nobel Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee ( no, Den norske Nobelkomité) selects the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's will. Five members are appointed by ...

(1991–1993) and board member of

Kommunale kinematografers landsforbund Film & Kino is an interest organization for municipalities that own cinemas in Norway. History It was established in 1917 under the name ''Kommunale Kinematografers Landsforbund'' (KKL), and was a national association of municipal-owned cinema c ...

(1976–1979) and Norsk Film (1992–1998). She led the committee that published the Norwegian Official Report 1991:20 on legal protection of developmentally disabled. She was also a member of the committees that published the Norwegian Official Report 1992:1, 1995:26 and 2004:18. She was decorated with the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas in 2000 and as a Commander of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II ...

in 2005.

Personal life

Mona Røkke was divorced and had two grown-up children and four grandchildren. She was diagnosed with cancer for the first time when she was quite young, and for the second time in 1985, while serving as Minister of Justice. Røkke went on sick leave for about one year before she returned to work as a member of parliament. She told about her experience with cancer and time as minister in the self-biography ''Ingen tid for tårer'' ("No Time for Tears") in 1986. She died in July 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokke, Mona 1940 births 2013 deaths Politicians from Drammen University of Oslo alumni Justice ministers Norwegian businesspeople 20th-century Norwegian lawyers Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway County governors of Norway Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Norwegian memoirists Deaths from cancer in Norway Norwegian women lawyers Women members of the Storting 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Female justice ministers Women government ministers of Norway Women memoirists Ministers of Justice of Norway